Postal Service spokesman Pete Nowacki said employees became suspicious when the box suddenly fell off the counter after the woman left the post office on January 25. Postal inspectors opened the priority mail parcel and found a four-month-old poodle mix, panting hard, inside.

Police Sergeant William Palmer said without their intervention, the puppy would certainly have died in the plane's unheated and non-pressurised cargo hold. It also had no food or water. The Star Tribune said 39-year-old Stacey Champion has been charged with animal cruelty. The dog was taken to the city's animal control facility.